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Try these fennel and pork meatballs, then check out more meatball recipes, such as our baked Italian meatballs, Swedish meatballs and vegetarian meatballs.

  • 2 small onion
    grated
  • 500g lean pork mince
  • 125g fresh breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds
    crushed
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 egg
  • olive oil
    for frying
  • butter
  • 2 cloves garlic
    crushed
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 300ml white wine
  • 200ml strong chicken stock
  • 100ml double cream
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 300g fregola or giant couscous

Gremolata

  • a small bunch flat-leaf parsley
    chopped
  • 1 lemon
    zested
  • 1 clove garlic
    chopped

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal880
  • fat35.8g
  • saturates15g
  • carbs81.8g
  • sugars8.6g
  • fibre8g
  • protein41.6g
  • salt0.9g

Method

  • step 1

    Put half the onion, all of the pork mince, breadcrumbs, fennel seeds, oregano and egg in a bowl with plenty of seasoning.

  • step 2

    Mix everything with your hands really well, then shape into 20 meatballs. Heat 1 tbsp oil in an ovenproof frying pan and brown the meatballs in batches, adding more oil as you need to – the meatballs should be almost cooked through. Once brown, scoop out of the pan onto a plate.

  • step 3

    Add the rest of the onion to the pan with another tbsp of olive oil and a knob of butter. Fry gently until soft, then add the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes more. Add the bay leaves and white wine and simmer until the wine has reduced by half. Add the meatballs back to the pan, along with the chicken stock, cream and mustard and simmer for 5 minutes, turning the meatballs halfway through.

  • step 4

    Meanwhile, mix the gremolata ingredients. Cook the fregola until just tender, then toss with a knob of butter and season. Serve
    the meatballs with the fregola and a sprinkling of gremolata.

Authors

Janine Ratcliffe Portrait
Janine RatcliffeFood director
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